Macquarie Dictionary

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Being ropeable is an Australian tradition

Each week, we have a look at a slang word from Australian English. You can see other Aussie Word of the Week posts from the Macquarie Dictionary here.

This week, our word is ropeable. I’m sure we’ve all heard this one before. It is a piece of classic Aussie slang from the 1870s that is still going strong today. It means to be seething with anger; literally, ‘fit to be tied’.

Of course, in another classic Australian icon, Kath and Kim, famous for its malapropisms, ropeable was rotated out in favour of the erroneous gropeable. So perhaps this is the one you are more used to hearing?

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